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mr. harkin: madam president?

the presiding officer: senator. mr. harkin: madam president, i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. harkin: madam president, on january 29 in 2009, president obama signed the lily ledbetter fair pay act. the critical law, legislation signed into law by president obama after his first election, reversed the outrageous supreme court decision in ledbetter and made clear a worker like ledbetter who had not earned a raise for years still had recourse to challenge her wage discrimination. today we celebrate the enactment of this important law, but at the same time we must recognize it was only a first step. we need to do much more to ensure all workers in our society are paid fairly for their work and are not shortchanged because of their

gender, race or other personal characteristic. that is why four years after enactment of the lilly ledbetter fair pay act, i am proud to introduce once again the fair pay act, a bill i have introduced in every congress since 1996. let me give some background here. in 1963, congress enacted the equal pay act to end unfair discrimination against women in the workforce. at that time 25 million female workers earned 60% of the average pay for men. while we've made progress toward the goal of true pay equity fully a half century later, too many women still do not get paid what men do for the same or nearly the same work. let's be clear about it, the equal pay act of 1963 has to do with women doing the same jobs as men. same jobs. but still, on average, as we know, a -- for every $1 a

full-time male worker earns, a woman earns just 77 cents. we've gone from 60 cents in all those 60 years to 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. what that really translates into, you might say well, 77 cents, is that a big deal? yes, it is. over a lifetime of work, it means an average of $400,000 in a lifetime a woman loses because of unequal pay practices. i'll say this again later on, but that $400,000 is not just the pay she loses during her lifetime. think about the retirement benefits that that woman loses because she's been underpaid all those years. so that's why you have the system in america today, women retires, a man retires, have had the same kind of work, the man gets a lot more retirement than a woman because they paid in more because they were paid more during their lifetimes.

this system is wrong. it's unjust. it threatens the economic security of our families. the fact is millions of american families are dependent on a woman's paycheck just to get by, to put food on the table, to pay for child care, deal with rising health care costs. in today's economy, few families have a stay-at-home mother. in fact, 71% of mothers today are in the labor force. they are major contributors to their family's income. two-thirds of mothers bring home at least a quarter of their family's earning, and more than four of ten families with children, a woman is the majority, or sole breadwinner. that means in today's economy, when a mother earns less than her male colleagues, her family -- her family -- must sacrifice basic necessities as well as facing greater difficulty for these kids to save for college, affording a

home, living the american dream. and the lifetime of earnings -- earning losses that all women face, including those women without children or whose children are growing up affects not only their well-being during their working lives, as i said earlier, their ability to save and have a decent retirement. now the evidence shows that discrimination accounts for much of the pay act. in fact, according to one study, when you look at all the reasons that there is a wage gap, well, we have rates 2.4%, 3.5% union status, labor force experience, industry category, occupational, 41% unexplained. they can't explain why it is. that's because of discrimination, because our laws

have not done enough to prevent this discrimination from occurring. that's why the lilly ledbetter fair pay act was a critical first step. and that's why's important to pass the paycheck fairness act. that bill was introduced last week by senator mikulski. i'm proud to be an original cosponsor. she has always championed that. now, what that does is it starts to close a lot of the loopholes and barriers to effective enforcement in our existing laws, to close that 41% unexplained gap. we need to strengthen penalties and give women the tools they need to confront discrimination. madam president, it's outrageous that the senate has not yet passed the paycheck fairness a act. in the last two congresses, this bill got more than a majority support. in 2010, 58 united states senators, a large majority, voted to pass this legislation.

if we got 58 votes, then why didn't we get it? because of republican obstructionism, we couldn't even proceed to debate the bill. so this was a filibuster on a motion to proceed to the bill. we got 58 votes but we couldn't even debate it. now, since we just went through a recent debate on rules reform, i want the american people to understand this. republicans, the minority party, have continuously prevented the united states senate from even considering the issue of unequal wages and gender discrimination. millions of women and their families are concerned about the fact they get paid less than their male colleagues. it's unfair. it's unjust. nevertheless, repeatedly, the republicans have filibustered even debating the issue. well, now, madam president, just last week we had a vote in the

senate to change some rules, so we made some modifications of the rules, and i trawl hop -- ay hope that those modifications that were made will now enable us to get over this hurdle to bring up the paycheck fairness act, debate it. if they want to offer amendments, that's fine. let's debate it, let's have amendments, and then let's vote to pass the bill. so i hope that these changes in the rules last week will enable us to do so. now, again, madam president, as i said, the lilly ledbetter bill was a first step. the paycheck fairness act will start to close some of the loopholes and make sure that we have the -- the penalties will be enforced. but there's one more step that needs to be taken and i think it is the most critical one of all. equal pay?

yes. we've had that since 1963. that's women and men doing the same job. lilly ledbetter act, saying that you can go back and get those back wages that you were due. but that's sort of after the fact. paycheck fairness act, yes. increase, make sure we have penalties and enforce act. but there's one other huge, huge glaring discrimination ongoing in our society today against women and that is as a nation, we unjusted devalue jobs traditional -- unjustly devalue jobs traditionally performed by women, even when they require comparable skills to the jobs traditionally performed by men. today, millions of what we call female dominated jobs -- for example, social workers, teachers, child care workers,

nurses, those who care for the elderly in assisted care living or in nursing homes, mostly women -- a lot of these jobs, most of these jobs are equivalent in skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions to male-dominated jobs. but the female-dominated jobs pay significantly less. this is unfair and unjust discrimination. why is a housekeeper worth less than a janitor, a maid? why is a maid worth less than a janitor? 89% of maids are female. 67% of janitors are male. now, while the jobs are equivalent in skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions, the median weekly earnings for a maid is $387. for a janitor, $463. computer support workers, a job

that is 72% male, have median weekly earnings of $949. in contrast, secretaries and administrative assistants, 96% female, have median weekly earnings of $659. so why do we value someone who helps with the computers more than someone who makes the entire office function? that's not to say that the men are overpaid. it's just to say that jobs that we have long considered in our country as -- quote -- "women's work, women's jobs" are grossly underpaid. now, to address this more subtle, deeprooted discrimination, today i introduce the fair pay act. as i say, the bill i've introduced with congresswoman norton every year since 1996. the bill will ensure that employers provide equal pay for jobs that are equivalent --

equivalent in skill, responsibility and working conditions. madam president, people say, well, how do you do that? well, we have some history. in 1982, minnesota, the state of minnesota in 1982 implemented a pay equity plan for its state and i think also its municipal employees. the state found that women were segregated into historically female-dominated jobs and that women's jobs paid 20% less than male-dominated jobs. pay equity wage adjustments were phased in over four years, leading to an average pay increase of $200 per month for women in female-dominated jobs. and in my home state of iowa, in 1983 the iowa legislature -- a republican legislature and a republican governor, i might

add -- passed a bill stipulating that the state shall not discriminate in compensation between predominantly male and female jobs deemed to be of comparable worth. 1983. i'm proud of iowa. i just wanted to say, this was passed by a republican legislature, signed by a republican governor. now, towards that en, the state en-- end, the state engaged a professional accounting firm to evaluate the value of 800 job classifications in state government. the final recommendations made in april of 1984 proposed that 10,751 employees be given a pay increase. implemented in march of 1985, female employees' pay was increased at that time by about 1.5%. but think of what that means from 1985 to now and how much more those women are paid over all those years. so it can be done.

for the women in this country who are currently being paid less not because of their skills or education but simply because they are in undervalued -- quote -- "female jobs," making sure they receive their real worth would make a huge difference for them and the families that rely on their wages. and, again, many of these jobs are jobs that we don't know what we'd do without them. you ever visit someone in your family who's in a nursing home? who's taking care of those people? it's women. you take someone who's in a situation like that and they have to move heavy people and lift them up and they've got to be strong, and they do -- they care for people. and then you look at truck drivers. most truck drivers are men. you know, you -- truck drivers today, they have power steering and power brakes and they've got all that. you don't have to be strong to

drive a truck. they're making a lot more money than that woman who is working in that nursing home taking care of your grandparents. why? skills, effort, responsibility, working conditions -- about the same. what my bill would do would be very simple. it would require employers to publicly disclose their job categories and their pay scales. got it? employers would publicly disclose their job categories and their pay scales without requiring specific information on individual employees. i'm not asking anyone to say what they're paying an individual employee. we just want to know job categories and pay scales. if we give women information about what their male colleagues are earning, they can insist on a better deal for themselves in the workplace. right now, women who believe they are the victim of pay discrimination must file a lawsuit, endure a drawn-out

legal discovery process to find out whether they make less than the man working beside them. with pay statistics readily available, this process could be avoided. in fact, madam president, i remember when lilly ledbetter first testified before our committee, the committee i now chair, and the committee that the distinguished occupant of the chair is proud to serve on now. so when lilly ledbetter first appeared before our committee, i asked her -- now, i had provided her information on the fair pay act, the one i'm talking about, and i asked her, i said, if the fair pay act had been law, would it have averted her wage discrimination case? she made it very clear that had she had the information about pay scales that our bill provides, this would have given her the information she needed to insist on being paid a fair valerie from the beginning rather than having to resort to litigation years after the

discrimination began. mr. president -- madam president, four years after president obama signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act, let's make sure that what happened to lilly never happens again, by recommitting ourselves to eliminating discrimination in the workplace and making equal pay for equivalent work. equal pay for equivalent work a reality. so i've introduced this bill every congress since 1996. we get focused on lilly ledbetter? yes, that's important. we're focused on paycheck fairness. yes. but think about the millions of american women out there who are in these traditional women's jobs that require skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions that are similar to a man and yet they are grossly underpaid. if minnesota and iowa -- and there may be some other states

that i don't know about; i just happen to know about those two -- but if they can do it, and they did this in the 1980's for state employees, municipal employees in minnesota -- surely we can do this nationwide. if you really want to stop discrimination in pay in this country between women and men, the fair pay act is the one that will do it. so i'm going to continue to push it for as long as i'm here and hopefully we can have some hearings on it again, which i will, and hopefully we can begin to move that. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that ben smitten and rich vicars of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's session. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. harkin: madam president, on what is perhaps -- well, i guess not perhaps, i guess we just voted -- on what is her final day as secretary of state, i would like to express my admiration and my gratitude to hillary rodham clinton for the extraordinary job that she has done over the last four years. i agree wholeheartedly with president obama, who said that she has been one of the finest secretaries of state in our nation's history. when she took on this responsibility in january of 2009, hillary clinton was already one of the most celebrated and accomplished women in the world. certainly her reputation and renown have been tremendous assets as she worked to restore america's standing in the world. but over the last four years, hillary clinton has been the ultimate workhorse public servant as opposed to the showhorse. now, this comes as no surprise

to me and to other former colleagues here in the senate. we know that she is a leader of extraordinary substance and talent, with an amazing work ethic. secretary of state clinton has set records as the most traveled secretary for time in office, visiting some 42 countries just in the last year alone. and she will be remembered for her tireless efforts to promote the empowerment of women worldwide and for her many demonstrations that smart power and assertive diplomacy can be far more effective than so-called hard power and military interventions. i am especially grateful to secretary of state clinton for insisting on robust assistance to haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake of 2010. in addition, following my visit to vietnam in 2010 and just prior to her own visit, we talked and i had urged her to

pledge america's commitment to helping vietnam in cleaning up the sites contaminated by agent orange. she agreed wholeheartedly, and this is just one way she has been very successful in repairing the breach with our former adversary and doing what is right and just for the victims of agent orange in vietnam. madam president, i have many fond memories of hillary clinton's eight years here in the united states senate. during that entire tenure, we served together on the committee on health, education, labor and pensions. in that role, as in her previous role as first lady, she was an outspoken advocate for health care reform, fighting tirelessly to secure quality, affordable health coverage for all americans. although she was no longer in the senate when the affordable care act passed and was signed into law, she shares enormous credit for laying the groundwork of that historic achievement. madam president, hillary clinton

has been a wonderful friend to my wife ruth and to me, and of course from her many campaigns in my state, she has so many friends all across the state of iowa. so she is retiring from the department of state, but we all know that by no means is she a retiring person. there are many vivid chapters yet to be written in the story of hillary rodham clinton. i wish her a richly deserved rest, much success and happiness in the years ahead. madam president, as we say goodbye to secretary clinton in that capacity as secretary of state, we say welcome aboard and congratulations to my good friend, senator john kerry on the rebounding confirmation of his nomination to serve as our next secretary of state. his departure will be a tremendous loss to the senate, but i respect president obama's

decision to tap him for this absolutely critical position. there is nobody, nobody in the united states better qualified by experience, knowledge and temperament to step into this extraordinarily demanding job. now to repeat what my colleagues already know but it always bears repeating -- after volunteering to serve in the united states navy during the vietnam war, john kerry was rewarded the silver star, a bronze star and three purposal hearts. upon returning home, he became a national leader in the fight for justice for veterans who served beside him in vietnam as well as veterans for wars before and since vietnam. he joined with others to found the vietnam veterans of america organization. he has worked hard here in the senate over all these years to secure veterans' benefits for an extension of the g.i. bill of rights for higher education, for appropriate treatment for veterans with posttraumatic

stress disorder. as we all know, senator kerry has played a leading role in shaping american foreign policy for many years in his position on the foreign relations committee and as chair of that distinguished committee. as chair of that, he was instrumental in securing passage of the new start treaty, an arms control accord with russia that is helping to reduce the danger of nuclear proliferation. he has served as a trusted special envoy to afghanistan, sudan and pakistan at crucial moments. senator kerry advocated for democratic elections in the philippines. he was part of the delegation that uncovered the fraud that ultimately led to the removal of president ferdinand marcos. he was a strong proponent of u.s. action to end ethnic cleansing in kosovo and to impose sanctions on burma tied to human rights abuses. senator kerry has been a leader in promoting economic

development and recovery in haiti, fighting global hiv-aids, supporting democracy and human dignity, and the advancement of human empowerment throughout the world. in his early days in the senate, senator kerry and i -- in fact, we were elected together in 1984, we came to the senate together, but right after that, shortly after that, senator kerry and i went on a fact-finding mission to nicaragua and unearthed information regarding the activities of the contra guerrillas which he presented to the committee on foreign relations. based in part on his ground-breaking findings, the committee launched an investigation into the funding of the contra guerrillas that ultimately uncovered the reagan administration's iran-contra scandal, a scheme to divert profits from illegal arm sales to iran to support the contra guerrillas. madam president, senator kerry and i said -- senator kerry and

i, as i said, were both members of the class of 1984 here in the senate. we worked together to end illegal support for the contras in nicaragua and we have collaborated on a range of human rights issues since then. in particular, in particular, i salute his tireless and valiant attempt last year to pass the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. madam president, i can't tell you how hard he worked on that, to get it through the committee and before that working with others to make sure that we had a good convention with the u.n. that mirrored our own americans with disabilities act. john kerry worked tirelessly on this, and i am deeply grateful for all of that work and the passionate commitment that he made to this treaty. i know that he shares my disappointment that the senate failed to give its consent to this treaty, but i look forward

to working with him in his new role as secretary of state and with senator menendez, our new chair of the senate foreign relations committee, not only to promote the convention around the world, which i know senator kerry will do in his position as secretary of state, but to once again bring this convention to the floor of the senate, and this time to prevail and pass it. madam president, there is no question in my mind that john kerry will be a great secretary of state. i wish him and teresa the very best. i look forward to working with him in the years ahead. madam president, with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. last week, the u.s. house of representatives passed a plan to prevent the risk of another credit rating downgrade by ensuring that the u.s. will not default on its obligations, the house made the responsible decision to stop playing politics, at least for a while, with our nation's creditworthiness and to prevent self-inflicted harm on our economy, but despite this effort, the house couldn't pass up the opportunity to try, while doing the right thing, to score at least one political point.

we're now considering the measure they passed. this legislation, the no-budget, no-pay act coming directly off a campaign document insists that congressional pay be linked with the passage of a budget by april 15. i'm fine with that, that we do that, and if we don't, we don't get paid, but let's not forget that the senate passed something even stronger than a budget for the past two years. we passed the budget control act which reduced the deficit by $2 trillion. that's 2,000 billion dollars. despite this, house republicans have no problem misleading the american people with their language, preventing senators from being paid until we pass a budget. well, madam president, i don't have a problem with the no-budget, no-pay, but why stop there? what about no jobs bill, no pay? in 2011, the senate passed my legislation bipartisanly cosponsored with senator graham and a number of other republican senators, senator byrd and a bunch -- a group of democratic

senators passed my legislation to punish china when it manipulates its currency. the bill can create more than two million jobs, mostly in manufacturing. we know what would happen in places like the presiding officer's state of massachusetts and my state of ohio with lost manufacturing jobs, despite the clear evidence that leveling the playing field will -- stopping currency manipulation would create jobs, despite the clear evidence of an overwhelming vote in the senate and two years ago an overwhelming vote in the house on the same issue, this legislation's languished in the house for the past two years. but why stop at the budget? why not a no farm bill no pay legislation? congress is obligated to pass a farm bill every five years. the senate passed our bipartisan farm bill, which, among other things, saves some $20 billion of direct savings by eliminating the -- the long-time discredited, the long-time

discredited direct payment program, it would save $20 billion. but again, the house refused to act. what about my legislation linking the age which members of congress can collect their pensions to the age at which working americans are eligible for social security? some people in this body, especially in the house of representatives, want to raise the retirement age for social security, yet for themselves, ourselves, if we retire earlier, collect our pensions before that age. if we're going to -- people here are going to raise the eligibility age for social security, nobody here should be able to collect any retirement benefits until that same age. citizens in my home state of ohio and places like middletown where workers have watched paper factories get priced out of the market because of unfair competition with countries like china, in places like cincinnati where call center workers are watching their jobs get contracted to the philippines, in worcester, massachusetts, or worcester, ohio, too many cases

have shut down plants in moving overseas simply or mostly because of currency, not to mention tax breaks that encourage companies that -- that allow companies to deduct the cost of moving their plant overseas against their federal tax, those are the kinds of things that average americans are waiting for the house of representatives to act, legislation that will make a real difference in their lives right now. i said i'm fine with the no budget, no pay act. we should pass a budget. we should move forward on that. we need to raise the debt ceiling and stop playing politics with this, but let the house of representatives get moving on the issues that affect everyday americans. that's all about jobs, that's all about this economic recovery. madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: yes, the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. for the senate, the letter of resignation of senator john f. kerry of massachusetts, effective friday, february 1, at 4:00 p.m. without objection, the letter is deemed read and spread upon the journal. mr. brown: madam president, i

ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 14 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 14, raising awareness and encouraging prevention of stalking by designating january, 2013, as national stalking awareness month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? if not, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. brown: awnt resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent, madam president, the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 20, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 20, designating chairmen of the senate coforeign relations. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the

measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent, madam president, the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: madam president, i understand there's a bill at the desk. i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 177, a bill to repeal the patient protection and affordable care act and the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010 entirely. mr. brown: i now ask for a second reading. and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will received its second reading on the next legislative day. mr. brown brown: madam presideni ask unanimous consent that brian seally, a gpt of justice detail on judiciary committee staff be given floor privileges for the remainder of calendar year 2013. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: madam president, i

ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourns until 9:30 a.m. on wednesday, january 30, 2013. that following the prayer and the pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and the senate proceed to a period of morning business for two hours with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each, with the majority controlling the first hour, the republicans controlling the final hour. further, that at 2:30 p.m., senator kerry be recognized for up to 30 minutes for the purposes of delivering his farewell address. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: and, madam president, i congratulate the presiding officer on becoming the senior senator from massachusetts in almost record time. madam president, we hope to complete consideration of the debt limit legislation for the -- before the end of the week. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until

earlier today, a bipartisan visit from lawmakers. the bill called the immigration act will include science and engine all engineering and math technologies. we begin with senator orrin hatch and this is 35 minutes.

>> i rise today to introduce the immigration innovation. this bill would not have been serialized without the help of chris kunz. all four of us have worked very closely together and each one deserves full credit. together we have crafted one of the best bars bipartisan bills in congress. one addresses this shortage of high skilled labor that we face in this country. this has reached a crisis level. for too long, our country has been unable to meet the increasing demands of workers trained in science and engineering and technology fields, otherwise known as stem. silicon valley, boston, new york, salt lake city, are in

desperate need for qualified stem workers. it is critical that we not only recognize this shortage, but understand why it exists. increasingly, enrollment in u.s. universities in the stem field comes from foreign students and despite her urgent need for workers in these fields, we continue to send these foreign students, potential high skilled workers trained at american universities, back to their home countries after graduation. just recently i was in a meeting with several leaders in the technology industry where it was mentioned between 2010 and 2020, the american economy will create more than 120,000 additional computer science jobs that require at least a bachelors degree. and that is just one aspect of this. this is great news for many of our computer science students.

unfortunately, that's the end of the good news. each are only about 40,000 american students receive bachelor degrees in computer science. in other words, there are approximately 80,000 new computer science positions every year in the united states that cannot be filled by available american workforce positions that need to be filled so that our technology industry can continue to thrive. simply put, us-based companies have a great need for those trained in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. at least right now there are not enough americans to train until the stops and we cannot continue to hope that american companies do not move operations to countries where they have greater access to individuals trained in these stem field. we cannot ignore this problem. it is that simple.

continued inaction causes us to miss out on an important opportunity. especially since as the american enterprise institute has confirmed, 100 foreign-born workers with transcends degrees create an average of 262 jobs for nativeborn workers. many return and boost their economy is, not only from their acquired skills, but also by creating these new jobs as well. an update of high skilled immigration systems is directly tied to creating jobs and spring growth across all sectors of our economy. we cannot afford any further inaction on this issue. this act of 2013 addresses the immediate short-term need

greater access to long-term need to invest in america's stem education. this two-step approach will enable our country to thrive and compete in today's global economy. i have mentioned my cosponsors on the spell. each one of them deserve credit for this. each one has been a pleasure to work with. each one of them adds a great deal to getting this bill passed. i want to thank them for working on this bill and allowing me the privilege of working with them. let me turn this conversation over to senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much, senator hatch, it's it is good to be here with our strong cosponsors,

senator rubio and senator coons. i want to thank you for your incredible leadership. we have worked as a team. i think this is really about a team effort. we have to be a country that exports to the world and to do that, we need the world's help. that is what this bill is about. as everyone can see, it is something that these parties can agree on we must work in a bipartisan manner. i support these principles outlined yesterday for reform and i look forward to working with my colleagues on the judiciary committee to make this done. the i-squared bill is about giving innovators in our first work in this company and

discourage companies from contracting out with people in other countries. well, guess what, that person hires assistants to work with them and in one case they hired french people instead of hiring american people. in fact, a recent study headed up by mayor bloomberg of new york that creates 1.8 american jobs. those are jobs in hawaii, those are jobs in minnesota. take a look at the fortune 500 companies. over 200 were founded by immigrants including 3-m and others in my home state. this is many and we want more. we want the next post a note to

be invented in america. i want to lay out three areas of reform that are in the i-squared bill. we reformed a trendy visa system come to meet the needs of technology in the medical community and to hope that the workers who form the backbone of those businesses thrive. second, we made changes to student visas to encourage students to get degrees here to stay in this country so that we don't just say go back to india or china or some other country and start the next google over there. we want you to start it here. third, we improved the green card system and finally, what is one of the most important things in this bill, we actually changed the structure so that companies who bring in these high tech and science and engineering immigrant workers, will also be spending some money

on funding. all of the education efforts for science and engineering and technology and math, stem education that is going on in this country. .. i wanted to put this in the context of document talk

specifically as the details of the next. first of all, in the context of immigration reform, there's a vast majority of americans that believe. one is a legal immigration system not working for the country. despite what exists about legal immigration and how to deal with that reality in the real debate that needs to happen, one thing everyone agrees on is legal immigration is good for this country, an important part of our history, critical part of our future and illegal immigration system in place right now does not work for america and really does not work for the 21st century. i support family-based immigration. but to my parents came to this country. i do want to do anything that undermines it. in the 21st century we can no longer have a system where the truly less than 10% of the people who come here do so based on the skills they bring to this country. think about this for a moment. if i say to you the united states of america, the nba should be the best basketball players in the world, who would

disagree with that? if i said major league baseball should be a collection of the best players, who would disagree with that? how then do we disagree when it comes to our economy, that the smartest part is working most talented people on this planet, we should want them to come here. i have no fear country will be overrun by phd's. i for one have no fear that this will be overrun by nuclear physicist adventurist and entrepreneurs. we had to create a system or that can happen in a rational, organized a microwave and that's who were attempting to do because that's not what we have right now in the united states. we have a system that started when i heard this. for 120,000 computer science engineers are universities only produce 40,000 people a year. this is an indictment of our educational system.

we need to fix that. we need to get to a point where we have 120,000 people to meet the demands. right now we've got to do with the fact that this 80,000 jobs, those 80,000 graduates are not created here, those jobs will still exist. they're just not going to exist here. these companies won't way to produce more graduates. they won't way to fix our immigration system. they've got a business to run and if they can't find the people they need to fill these jobs, villages and those jobs to another country. but i tell you what that means in practical terms. high-paying jobs in these industries will be paying the taxes in some other country, will be stimulating the economy in some other country in main reason and some other nation. do you want to know why america is special? over 200 years been a collection of the best and brightest that attracts people here and now we have an immigration system

that's very difficult to achieve a massive esophagitis. the other concern is the folks in this country now. it's a legitimate concern. i don't get upset about that. the kids born here, raised here, that be her? have the same they need far exceeds what we're producing. so that not an immediate concern. but the startling figure used earlier, that for every 100 foreign-born workers, we create 260 semi-jobs. it's indisputable that these jobs create for people down a line in process. if you're an entrepreneur that the democrat, create jobs for all kinds of people, most of whom are born here. if you create new technology or develop technology company you create jobs and opportunity that live here, work here, were born here. this is a net positive for economy and that's what this

issue is so critical and being confronted. as we deal with their entire immigration system, we can't modernize the immigration system if we don't have a way to get the world's best and brightest to come here in a way that cost effect to, in a way that faith in a way that's legal. that's over attempting to do. this bill is not in competition with other efforts. in fact, it's an indispensable part of it. you cannot reform the system if it does not include visa provisions for graduates in science technology, engineering and math. my final point, it makes no sense to invite people to come to the united states to study and are universities, to become the best and brightest in the world at the subject matter and then to ask them to leave. think about that for a moment. we tell you come to america, we are going to teach you

everything you know and that we want you to go somewhere else and use the knowledge you gain here. that's crazy. that's just nonsensical. it's crazy. we can't keep doing not and hopefully will begin to change it here now. it's been a pleasure to work with the folks underside or hatch's leadership, we have a really good group working here and our final colleague has been a part of this. we worked on this issue in the context of another piece of legislation, which we hope will get moving soon we started to point out, senator cohen's column i call it from delaware will be interested in hearing from him about this issue as well. >> thank you, senator rubio. in the last congress more than three bills we cosponsored were focused on how to create jobs and drive our economy forward. senator hatch, i'm grateful for your leadership and senator

klobuchar us who serve together on the judiciary committee and the four of us introduced today the spill of which we are so proud the immigration innovation act of 2013. mr. president, for decades the united peace and joy to commanding advantage being home to all the world's top universities, particularly science and knowledge you come engineering and math in the so-called stem fields and we were the best place for the graduates of those universities and art than science programs to stay homogeny business. but today, that field has changed in our competitors are vying to more supportive environment for innovators, conventions and started companies. there's been a change in the field of opportunity back home for those foreign nationals who in increasing numbers are educated in the united states and whom we've been forced to return to the nation of origin. even though many of the most talented young people around the globe still point to the united states to obtain their masters

or doctoral degrees in spam, now more than ever they are not just tempted to take their education home with them and start businesses elsewhere. they attracted a home countries and force my outdated immigration system. what an unwise way to compete in the global economy. our outdated immigration system has been adapted for modern world. half of all masters and doctoral degrees at american universities are earned by foreign-born students who then face an uncertain, expensive and i will be passed to pursuing their dreams in the united states. our country is hemorrhaging innovation in the inventors to make them and the jobs that come with them. they fail to keep up the demands of the modern age. we cannot afford to keep educating the worlds brightest event saturday the universities, which are subsidized by u.s. tax dollars and ameritrade

charitable giving and they cannot repay those investments by contributing to the u.s. workforce. this post that policy and bad business. that's why the market on this issue, introducing those in calling for creation of a new class of grain price for immigrants to earn an advanced from an american university. i was especially cried to see the framework yesterday by senator mccain, schumer, rubio and others, which may sisters comprehensive immigration reform embraces this vital core premise. i also welcome president obama's contributions to this discussion i look forward to hearing what he has to say in las vegas. there is broad bipartisan agreement that it's long past time to reform immigration system to make room for foreign-born american educated experts who want to apply their skills, start businesses and raise families here. at the same tablet dramatically improve improves stem education available to american to filibuster another.

i senator hatch said a few minutes ago, if you take the example of computer science, by 2020, the u.s. economy will need 120,000 men and women to so these jobs, yet 40,000 graduates with degrees in computer science with the americans. how to fill that gap. we tackled the size of this problem by reforming outdated immigration system to allow highly skilled researchers to stay here rather than leaving and taking our jobs and future opportunities with them and by acetylene to hundreds of millions of dollars of these experts meet to greet card to improving u.s. based on education. it's a win-win. immigration innovation after 2013 will open the door, recapture a new screen cards and move away from the outdated model of country caps and overall caps. to better compete with countries

acronym is to the north in canada, where cats don't access and microsoft is eager to open a massive development facility at our expense and loss. one of the most important parts as i mentioned is that we are using piece on this newly expanded hp ones to find state initiatives. this will keep america on the cutting edge of science and technology and fuel economic growth for this country and generations to come. while each of the co-authors of this legislation and made substantial contributions, i'm especially grateful to senator hatch of utah for his leadership. senator hatch, tell us more about this legislation. >> thank you, mr. president. i went to thank you, senator coons and senator klobuchar and senator rubio. eyes you can see, it's a real pleasure to work with these three partners and others as well who are here today.

i particularly want to thank you for what you've given on this bill. it's been a real pleasure for me to work with you three very innovative leaders in the senate. as a number of you have mentioned, by eliminating employment-based green cards, recapture lost employment-based, exempting certain class of immigrants from the annual green card and creating a new and sustainable find and string to enhance the u.s. stem education pipeline, we will help america's innovative industries recruit and retain highly skilled talents were federally sad global marketplace that will make us more competitive. we've heard from in industries who support the act of 2013. today receive support from the following. these are supporters of this

bill. microsoft, oracle, intel, are beyond, hewlett-packard co., facebook, texas instruments, qualcomm, u.s. chamber of commerce, manufacturers, bsa, south alliance, compete america, a semiconductor association, the consumer electronics association , the software information industry association , the internet association, community communication industry association. the information technology industry council. the information technology and innovation foundation, tax or reliance, telecommunications industry association, ctia, wireless association. sabre holdings, council of true state school officers and just to mention one other immigration

voice. mr. president, i asked that these letters from each of these companies and organizations be inserted into the congressional record at this point. >> about objections to water. >> senators klobuchar, rubio and coons, i do see is a privilege to need. these are fine additions to the united states senate. and senator klobuchar and senator coons on the senate judiciary committee and one of the most knowledgeable senators we have an immigration policy and as you can see, it's terrific reader and many other ways. we send a strong message that both sides can come by just one of our country's most urgent economic needs. yesterday, eight of our colleagues and build a framework for nation's immigration system.

i commend them for their willingness to work in a bipartisan way to reform our immigration laws. it's very much needed. one of the leaders is around senator rubio as well as senator schumer and senator mccain and others as well but i hate to not mention, but you get the point. similarly, the work of senators klobuchar, rubio, coons and i have done in the chi-squared was no easy task and represents negotiations with interested stakeholders and garnered as you can see widespread industry support. i hope that our language to reform the high skilled immigration system is considered by this body in the immediate future. i would surely like to hear more from senator klobuchar if she'd

care to make some additional points on it. >> mr. president. >> senator klobuchar. >> i wanted to call upon senator senator rubio's analogy on the teams and the sports because i did note he mention basketball and baseball, but not hockey. as you know, minnesota is the fate of hockey. in fact, we just are happy that the nhl is playing again and our team is playing. i looked at some of the numbers similar to what senator rubio was talking about and in fact, significant numbers of players on our professional hockey team come from other countries. there's a lot of canadian hockey players from all over the world and all the sports any wonder, why is that? with all the talk about immigration backlogs in the visa shortages, you wonder how all these athletes are contributing.

the answer is there's no cap on visas for athletes. again, no limit on how many athletes can come over and play on our sports teams and the result of athletes can compete here and we have the best sports leagues in the world. why shouldn't we acquire the same principles of innovation, science, medical development, so we should be doing. we do have some caps. we are raising those caps because we think it is time to compete with the rest of the world. this is an interesting statistic. the u.s. nobel prize winners. they have been anagrams, 30% of them. one of those mari g, born in italy in 1937. his mother survived a nazi

concentration camp and is able to bring into america in 1987, one work of stem cells. obviously, this is an exciting area for because this great hope to solve many diseases. medtronic, a minnesota institution of medical devices for your started in a garage, started by the child of an immigrant. why would we want to prevent the next person who is common to cure cancer, created new energy source, who would ring a new means of communication to our country. this bill is about moving our country forward. this bill is about competing in the world economy and if we can do in baseball and basketball and it had senator rubio, hockey, we can do in engineering, science, and technology. i think that colleagues and turn it over to senator rubio.

>> mr. president. >> senator from florida. >> let the record reflect to did not mean to offend hockey fans. the florida panthers and the lightning tampa bay area won the stanley cup, so we like hockey, too, although you can play it outdoors in florida. in any event, the point is well taken that we want the best and brightest. the one point i want to make, the one thing i picked up on in general and the last 24 to 48 hours is how important it is inaccurate information reached the american people about what it is for working on and not working on. immigration is a complicated thing. i hear a lot of discussion about immigration and all have more to say later today. immigration is a complicated process. it's important for people to understand what we're trying to do and what it is not.

that's true for the entire issue of immigration. to that man, i want to issue a public challenge to the companies who in the past have gotten engaged in the public discourse in the public debate on issues that involve issues of technology. a few months ago, a source that in some places, but the issue recall sofa and tipper and other things that will impact the freedom of the internet, freedom of communicating online and groups that involve to clear the record about what they were foreign but they they were again. i hope will do the same thing on this. i hope these platforms on this to discuss what this is about. it's a challenge for facebook, google and twitter of the world. let people know what's at stake but if you elected renovations, just think about this for a moment. you would tell someone you were going to google than because they didn't know if i would meet

anything a decade ago. now it means some name. if you're going to treat something, people would look at you funny. not mean something. these are innovations that happen in america not only change the way we live, really transform the world. think about the political movement. there is a time when you couldn't engage in public discourse it would be fairly quickly by using the platform created by innovators. the people that develop this stuff are immigrants or the children of immigrants or children of people trained in this country, thank god we didn't send back home. i hope those who have a vested interest in this issue passing will use the platforms they own and operate to clearly inform the american people what is at stake here on the issue of immigration as a whole, but in particular high skill

immigration and i guess for additional thoughts want to turn it over to senator coons who has a unique insight and worked on the start of 2.0. it's an important piece of legislation would like to get done fairly soon. a lot based on the size and into that nature and senator coons has more to add to that her efforts today. >> senator collins, with the senator yield just for a moment for a complement? >> certainly, i yield to the senator florida. >> i just want to comment my friend from florida. and they gave a number of interviews yesterday on his initiatives with regard to comprehensive immigration, not just because the issue at hand, more about the specialized necessity of visas, but overall comprehensive immigration which

i assert my favor and have voted for in the past been a huge step was taken because of the initiative of a number of courageous son nurse among home i would include my colleague from florida. thank you. >> thank you, senator nelson. if i might come mr. president. >> senator from delaware. >> i joined the center in lincoln in recognizing senator rubio for his great work on the issues of job creation and innovation through startup to point out another bills we were taught together, but also the comprehensive framework released yesterday. the framework released by senator schumer, mccain, senator rubio and others takes the approach to ensuring the united states has a modern efficient, effective and compassionate immigration system. i was glad to see it addressed the family-based immigration

challenges included an expedited path to citizenship for young people brought his children through no fault of their own. people we rightly call dreamers. we are introducing today recognizing the critical contributions that immigrants have made and will continue to make it highly to goldfields. we must recognize the essential contributions immigrants make a lot of entirely% from across the whole breadth of this country to build a nest in the past and given it a brighter future. as europe and senator klobuchar, if team u.s.a. is to play competitively globally, we do best and brightest contributors who are future. i would reeducate the best innovators in the world and send many back to compete with those from other countries rather than embracing them here and allowing two in anniston creek comes in his here in the united states. wanting her to move ahead, and

equally eager to have a smooth ahead with reform first degree holders. comprehensive immigration reform is a necessity for hard-working people of delaware and around the country. for those who want nothing more than to build a better life for children contributes to the american train, that is what any of us would want, the chance to work hard, see her children grow happy and healthy with education opportunities to make their dreams come true and contribute to stronger america. that's when committed to a comprehensive overhaul of our immigration system, one that supports children and families as well as our economy and vital technology sector and welcomes immigrants into the rich fabric of this country is the united states has done since our founding. as someone who trained in chemistry, worked for high-technology, as someone who met yesterday with a delaware company challenging their

ability to do research and development and compete in the global economy, i want to say how grateful for the leadership of senator hatch, senator klobuchar in crafting this piece, this vital piece of the total picture of comprehensive immigration reform. thank you. senator hatch, and your closing as we conclude? >> senator from utah. >> i want to thank my colleagues, senator coons, senator rubio and senator klobuchar further work on this bill. it is obvious from their statements today that they have a great deal on these issues. i-squared is a commonsense approach for those who come here for our american universities have the ability to stay here with their families and contribute to our economy and to our society. this bill is good for workers, good for businesses trying to grow and it's good for our

economy. i am pleased that the momentum we've seen on this bill or industry support within the senate itself. i'm pleased to announce senator flake, shaheen, howler, blumenthal, senator nelson from florida and warner have agreed to the original others at the i-squared act and i encourage more of my colleagues to support this bill. it's long overdue, well thought out. reprinted by the top people in this country and frankly it has a lot of support so far and we haven't even gone and tried to get cosponsors and they're starting to calm just naturally. i hope we can get the senate to call this bill up and of course they think were all interested in going beyond this bill, to intrude immigration reform the welfare country to continue to maintain it so is the greatest

country in the world that i want to thank my colleagues. it's been in the privilege to serve with them on the floor today. >> comments on immigration policy on the floor of a president obama unveiled his own plan for immigration reform in las vegas earlier today.

>> we cannot separate any single source, any single discipline, any single threat and say that it, that's the golden strand. okay, maybe if you give enough time will think of one, but that's not how it normally happens. it's very complex and in fact, a

bit reflective with the kind of detect good work that goes on when few beat the emphasis on the black saint and go to the analytical stream. >> you once call the program produced in no information, why don't we destroy out the report. we've got the senate intelligence committee that as a basically -- no macias we can't know what it says, but no useful information came from enhanced interrogation. why don't they just pass a law saying all the reports and intelligence purdue should be destroyed and never used again? >> i got a little when i wrote that op-ed. if you just think it's all in valid, all illegitimate, and our legal system, fruit of the forbidden tree never throws

shows up in the court system. if you expose opposed it on practical grounds, let us know. obviously it's an overbought challenge on my part, but you see the point that i'm trying to draw here that this stuff was important. i will maybe q. josé up to put flesh on these balance. you throw away the 9/11 report if you throw away this data. >> i just think that's a ridiculous assertion when a reporter says the enhanced interrogation program has no value or produce nothing. frankly, it's disturbing because in my view, it is an attempt to

rewrite history and the narrative that the administration is enhanced interrogation program is torturing nothing came out of it, but in fact, we were able to destroy al qaeda because of it. so, i don't know how they spent three and a half years, spending out on a many millions of dollars, never interviewing any of us, and come up with a statement like that are reportedly. i just don't understand that. >> it just doesn't make any sense. it doesn't compute. nothing? all of those thousands and thousands of reports produced zilch? we cannot argue and disagree what role it played. i mean, this administration and cannot have the time shortly

after and subsequently reaffirmed a current act and director, mike morel who got pillared for by the committee, the program did play a role. this is a complex picture with many different strands intertwined. so we can argue how big a role it plays, but it just defies logic for someone to take a position, an absolute categorical position that none of it, none of the reports, none of the seven years, detainees reporting made any difference at all. i just don't buy that. >> make one that he had a great op-ed "wall street journal" with

the cia interrogation program to further the 9/11 troopers, but there seems to be an obsession among the critics to deny the efficacy of program. the look of the movie like zero dark 30. she acknowledges that the site of mass, which is a valid position that this program work. it played a role, but we shouldn't have done it and that's a valid position. why are people so obsessed with trying to disprove the obvious that we got information? >> let me be a little edgy and my response and pointed no human being. i mean this. i am pointing to the broad american public and talking about the national safety, not anybody, within the agency, outside the agency, just few. the american citizenry.

to me tell a sentence i never heard as director of nsa. hey hayden, i know this is bad, but whatever you do, don't overreact. never heard that. in fact, i can document conversations way on the other side. i actually think it might be as part of the national consciousness a moral struggle for summoner summary or culture that they're now trying to deal with not that we did it is that they mind it, when they didn't mind it at the time to say let's not overreact here, let's be really careful. they give you the intelligence of servers in an going to tidy this is why even before i do it.

were often put in a situation where we are bitterly accused of not doing enough to defend america when people feel endangered. as soon as we've made people feel safer to, we are accused of doing too much. i realize that it's my fault, my whiny kids everyone they not share that view. every now and then in a sober, somber, moment i allow myself that thought. >> i was a portion of event hosted today by the american enterprise institute. you can see the entire event tonight

>> georgia o'keeffe was really the first well-known women aren't as and well into her life in the 1970s there was no one who could match her fame and she became a feminist icon and i grew up under the influence. my first recognition of her work was not as an art historian, but a budding feminist. she was attention drawn to the fabulous paintings. i lived in colorado and people talked about this moment, the way she lived. from 1929 forward she came to mexico for months out of the year, living apart from her has

been in the 30s and 40s continue to do this for 20 years until there has been stats and then she moved to new mexico full-time. so she lights a our imagination because she was famous ouyang, but secondly she lived the life she wanted to live. she was a very disciplined woman and i think that stands out as women make choices even right through to the 70s, they make choices that accommodate family and other pursuits in life. georgia o'keeffe had one driving passion in life and it was for art.

>> republican senators next talking about the housebuilder suspends the national debt limit and senate work on that bill this week. >> well, since we had a few days since we last gathered at this podium, a number of us were very pleased to see the three-judge court decision that was handed down last friday, related to the president's unconstitutional recess appointment. obviously, that is likely to end up in the supreme court, but a good indication is that it would be in all likelihood held that the president doesn't get to decide and the senate itself would be the best determinant of when we are in session. secondly, majority leaders indicated later this week to take up a house passed that

limit bill. inside that though of course is an indication that the senate should take up and pass a budget consistent with the law. since that time, democrats have indicated they intend to pass a budget this year. we have to get about it and get back to following the law and passing a budget that indicate the priorities are for the demo rats enid dave emmett. a developer in on a bipartisan basis. in any event, we thought not ignore the law any longer. it's a great step in getting back to regular order. unless there's a pretty strong reason not to do that. >> it's been 1371 days since democrats lies with the budget to the united states senate and

thanks to pressure brought by house republicans in passing or no budget, no pay provision as part of the debt ceiling will now over the senate, it looks like according to senator murray, will now pick up a budget. this is important because while republicans believe spending is the problem, not the lack of taxation, it's going to be a revealing exercise to see how the budget market is in the committee and of course on the floor it will be insured challenge for those who believe our revenue is the is suppose to reining in the d.c. how senate democrats produce 51 votes by deeper 15 deadline. the senate republicans just released a video that highlights

the presidents past statements when it comes to tackling debt and the factual record when it comes to tackling debt. when it comes to reducing the debt as we would say in the west, the president has been all hat and no cowboy. he's been all talk and no action. what we've seen over the past for your sisterly dollars deficit every single year, the debt ballooned by 50% and the president's record and his rhetoric is so much a. we would like to have a debate about how to get the debt under control, how to reduce spending in a way that creates jobs and builds the economy. a lot of people don't realize that the government grows and expands it costs us jobs and economic growth in the private economy and would like to have that discussion in the google this year finally. the price president said it is a statement of priority.

in the past years the senate democrats evidently had no priority. tsuda talking about doing a budget, but they're talking about raising taxes. we to think of that for jobs and the economy. talking about economic growth and jobs in the worst thing you can do is raise taxes. as we get in the budget debate, i hope it will focus the light squarely where it should be and that is on the past three years democrats lack of budget and their budget this year is near them talk about it which proposes more tax increases with jobs growth in the economy. >> following the president so-called recess appointments, the courts have now ruled disappointment were illegally made, unconstitutional. so we have now is the nlrb operating under a cloud of uncertainty. i'm introducing legislation this

week focused specifically on that and making sure there are no more nlrb rules or regulations coming out until the court fully in the supreme court resolve the issue. it is more and more of a problem if they continue to come up with rules and regulations causing additional uncertainty and as a result, i say it is time for the president to stop trying to sidestep the constitution, sites that seneca went around the back and instead working with members of the senate with his nominations. we have the right as well as what's really to advise and consent the president on nominations. >> on the same topic, the president decided he could decide whether the senate was in session or not and this was the same senate under the same rules that just a couple days before had extended some of the

president's policies while if you listen to him weren't in session, but of course you are. the nlrb says we don't care what the court of appeals says. we are still open for business. they probably should change their open to business sign for help wanted and get people in there that are legally able to do what needs to be done. the legislation that would prevent them from new role regulations is an approach i support. i've also have legislation drafted the babies appointed that haven't been confirmed, haven't been submitted to advice and concerned under the constitution, nor can they spend monies available. this is something that is a fundamental violation of the constitutional power, division of power and i think the senate is and should take this very

seriously. >> good afternoon. with current economic circumstances in my view, the issue of jobs and economic opportunity for the american people continues to be the most important issue that we can and should address and with the expected confirmation of senator kerry, the administration has an opportunity to do something good for the energy security of our country, an opportunity to do something good for job creation and i would use this opportunity following the announcement of the nebraska governor a few days back and the confirmation of senator kerry to be secretary of state to call upon the secretary of state me and the obama and to finally issue the approval and grant the permitting process so that the keystone pipeline can move forward in our country can have a better opportunity for jobs.

the american people can have a better chance for employment in our country can reduce reliance on oil from places that are so insecure. i hope this is a turning point. nebraska has cheated the opportunity for the keystone pipeline now to be approved. thank you. >> a couple questions. [inaudible] >> well, senator hagel has been at his hearing at. i think it is too early to predict conditions under which his nominations will be considered. he has visited a number of us. we've had a chance to discuss his positions privately and i were looking forward to taking a publicly and we'll see how it's going to be processed on the senate floor when it comes out of committee. [inaudible]

>> on that issue, am unclear as to whether the majority leader wants to bring a gun measure to the floor. it will be to hand to determine whether receipt that issue on the floor, the judiciary committee to determine whether we've hearing to go forward. and among those who'd be happy to look at what the majority decides to advance on that subject. [inaudible] >> while, at the risk of repeating myself, you know, we've got a bipartisan group of senators have been working on immigration reform. i've got a good indication there's a bipartisan desire to go forward. in addition to that, senator grassley and senator leahy said the committee itself will want to hold hearings and a markup.

i think predicting how one is going to vote on this package, before it gets out of committee is something i'm not prepared to do. but what i will say is there's obviously bipartisan desire to move forward on immigration legislation and my assumption is the majority leader will be doing that. thank you. [inaudible conversations] democratic leadership spoke to reporters today. harry reid touch with at with the gun violence legislation coming to the senate floor under an open amendment process.

>> okay. [inaudible] -- not to squabble over small distances. i'm encouraged to see signs that republicans are coming to that conclusion. last week in the biggest change of senate rule since 1979, we passed a bipartisan package that made the senate work more efficiently. it didn't contain everything everyone wanted, but it's a major compromise. remember, the most significant change since 1979. yesterday was a democrat and senate republicans stand side-by-side to embrace commonsense principles intuitive broken immigration system. even though it took far longer to do with the broken immigration system and even though it took far longer than it should have, three months as a matter of fact, we passed a bipartisan bill to take care of the northeastern states who were so struck by c&d.

i look forward to a bipartisan vote to approve senator kerry as next secretary of state. this week we expect to vote on a bill to extend the debt ceiling until this summer, a bill i'm very happy about it will not resort to what her previous efforts have done. this is the way things should work around here. i hope it's a vision of the future. it's far more common ground for democrats and republicans on the issues we face than people realize. certainly the last two years would suggest that it's incumbent upon us to seek the common good, the common ground rather than retreat the opportunity. i believe we've seen so far in this congress imposed software ability to deliver the middle class in coming months. we have big issues that hopefully we can resolve.

we can face the difficult challenges ahead. [inaudible] i don't want you to stay here. we had a wonderful caucus today, where he taught about the work that's been done and 72 with immigration. we are far from having met john, but the work done by turbine, senator, bennett and menendez is very, very -- i'm very hopeful. the president is in las vegas today. he's put his arms around the four senators on the democratic side in republican side, but with a caveat. he's not going to wait around forever to tackle the legislation. questions? [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> it is something we are still looking out. i'm just glad senator durbin is here. one of the things they work on us to have a place to bring these people so they can be tried. i know that's one of the things we've been working on. [inaudible] -- he didn't have the votes. when he moved them to the thomson prison site in illinois, it didn't work. there was a supporter. the president saw that. i think he measured it properly and 72 move on. one thing i would add is i hope it is reported we have successfully prosecuted terrorists in our article iii courts over and over again and we should continue to do that. the president should have the option of a military tribunal.

[inaudible] >> it's no one's fault, but where we are now, the president can't do things unilaterally. dealing with congress but it legislatively impossible to do what he wanted to do. [inaudible] >> i've given presentations on immigration at least 150 times, dozens and dozens of times and every time i give a presentation, i talk about what we need to have in immigration reform and how we started by saying making sure our borders, plural, are secure. southern and northern borders. >> -- [inaudible] commitment to bring gun control legislation to the floor. senator feinstein is on to bring

legislation hearings this week. if senator mcconnell right click >> at the caucus today on the floor, may have been friday or thursday, but in the last few days that have been a presentation saying i will do everything within my power to bring legislation, dealing with crime and violence generally the floor. at the caucus today, senator leahy is expansive and talking about hearings on gun control. it's very clear is going to be a bill brought out to the committee by the senate floor and the amendment process they are. people can bring up whatever methods they want to do with this issue. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> were going to have a presentation at a retreat next week. dealing with sequestration, we

believe their different ways of doing sequestration. we believe sequestration as they are, what we think would be a better effort would be to move forward in an short increments, pay for the sequestration. there are many low-hanging pieces of fruit a tear. the republicans have said they agreed on previously. i'm not going to go into detail, but there's a lot of things we can do out there ever going to make an effort to make sure their sequestration involves revenue. remember, the american people still believe by an overwhelming margin that the rich should contribute to this. they believe medicare and discussion spending has been hit hard already. they believe there could be a better way dealing then with a meat cleaver is sequestration

does. he should be the wealthiest people in america pain a little bit more. there should be a balance of spending cuts and revenue. >> before he takes over the senate foreign relations committee chairman committee think there needs to be a full investigation into senator menendez on a ledge it solicitation -- [inaudible] >> the answer is, i always consider the source. all anyone has to look at the source for this comes from. it is a source that is brought up -- don't, don't. i've told you how i feel about the source of this staff. it's really very, very typical for the source. [inaudible] >> as these hearings go, what

productive -- [inaudible] is there anything that could happen tomorrow that will be truly protect this? >> there's no question about it on both sides. but a release of -- really salute senator leahy and besides unimportant issues. after the hearing, we have to roll up our sleeves and take a starting bill and go through the amendment process. how many times have we heard on the floor suggestion that this hasn't even had a hearing and that's the beginning of the process. [inaudible] >> let me clarify this. we have it written the section, the we envisioned measurements in terms of progress and